I love you, but I can never tell you how I feel
by iLuvNaruto1412
Summary: KakashixOC. They have been in love for a long time, but they are afraid of confessing their loves for one another, as they are afraid that things they have between them may change for the worse. Rating might change due to language/ suggestive situation. R&R please! :D
1. 1 Introduction and The Past Tragedy

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. All Naruto characters belong to Kishimoto-sensei. *sobs and wails in a corner*

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><p>Name: Hikaru Uchiha  Hikaru Namikaze  
>(born in the Uchiha clan, but adopted by the 4th hokage when she was two years-old)<br>Age: 6 years younger than Kakashi. 20 in the main story line.  
>Rank: ex-ANBU black-ops captain<br>Abilities: Good strategist  
>-very weak in taijutsu<p>

Look:  
>-long light blue hair (waist length)<br>-blue eyes (sapphire)  
>-height: 158cm<br>-weight: 45kg

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><p>Story starts:<p>

Hikaru was jumping from one tree to another. From afar, she could already see the big massive gate. Yes, it is the gate that lead her to Konohagakure, the village she once lived in. She ran away from that village because everybody that is close to her, no, everybody that **_was _**close to her from the village had died. Everybody except Kakashi and her brothers. As she jumped down from the tree, the painful memories crept back to her mind. The death of her cousin, Obito, her best friend, Rin and her beloved sensei as well as adopted father, the 4th Hokage, Minato Namikaze were being replayed all over in her mind. She also remembered vividly the night her entire clan had been wiped out of existance by her little brother, Itachi. She walked slowly to the gate, trying her best to hold back her tears as the memory flooded back.

She still clearly remembered the day Obito was killed. The scene of what had happened play itself in her head very vividly.

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><p>*Flashback*<p>

"Obito! Hikaru! Dont go after them" Kakashi commanded, after Rin was taken by the Iwa shinobi.

"What? What are you saying? Dont you get it?" Obito growled as he felt extremely frustrated that the girl he loved was taken away, her fate unknown

"Kakashi-niisan..?" Hikaru questioned his decision, disagreeing with him.

"The three of us will resume the mission" Kakashi commanded sternly, not a trace of concern detected on his voice.

"Rin.. What about Rin? What about her safety?" Obito almost yelled at Kakashi angrily.

"The more important thing is to continue the mission. If the enemies figured out our aim, it will be harder to carry on with the mission"

"But rescuing Rin is more important than the mission!"

"As a shinobi, sometimes its essential to sacrifice your companions for the accomplishment of the mission. Thats a 'LAW'. If the mission fails, war will continue and many more sacrifices may occur"

"Kakashi! I'm going to save Rin. I understand that in the ninja world, those who break the rules and regulations are called trash. But those who don't care about their companions are even worse than trash"

With that, Obito took off to save Rin.

"Obito-nii is right, Kashi-nii. I know that you remembered what happened to your father. But I'm going against the rule as well. I'm going to save Rin. She is my best friend, plus, don't we owe her a lot? She was always there to patch us back together when we get wounded" Hikaru spoke softly, trying to make Kakashi to follow her and Obito to save Rin.

She took off following Obito, leaving Kakashi behind, knowing that Kakashi would stay stubborn and carry out the mission on his own.

Hikaru finally caught up with Obito. The two of them had found the hideout of the enemy who captured Rin. As they were figuring the perfect time to ambush the enemy and save Rin, an enemy snuck up behind them. Hikaru were knocked down the tree she was crouching on and landed on the ground, flat on her back, all the air in her lungs were knocked out, causing her to let out a yelp of pain. She did not lost her consciousness, but she was suffering from the aftermath of a shock, her body paralyzed. She knew for certain that Obito was going to get killed as the enemy was far stronger, but no matter how hard she tried, she was not able to move to help him. Suddenly, she saw a flash of silver cutting the enemy's chest. Kakashi was there. He came to save Rin. The enemy used a jutsu to make himself invisible. He then reappeared behind Obito, ready to struck him. However, it was Kakashi that recieved the blow. The enemy wounded his left eye.

Obito cried for a while when the enemy wounded Kakashi. Suddenly, Hikaru heard Obito scream "DIE!". She saw that the enemy was stabbed. The enemy limped and fell off the tree, dead. She also noticed that Obito was finnaly able to use the sharingan. Obito and Kakashi immediately ran towards her, making sure that she was alright.

"I'm ok.." she said weakly at them. Kakashi carried her and placed her behind a tree gently and carefully, hiding her from the enemy's line of vision, as well as ensuring that he did not make the wound she suffered worsen. He and Obito then ran towards where Rin was captured to rescue her.

Some time after they went in, Hikaru saw the opening of the cave began to be closed by rocks falling in front of it. She tried to move, but it was useless. The pain was so intense that she could barely lift her arms. She saw Kakashi and the others running out. She feel relieved. However, a rock fell on Kakashi's left shoulder, making him fell to the ground. A larger rock was on its way crushing Kakashi. The rock did not crush Kakashi, instead, it crushed Obito. Obito had pushed Kakashi aside when the rock was falling. Shocked at the incident, she immediately stood up and ran as fast as she could towards her teammates, her pain forgotten when she saw her favorite cousin dying. She was then trapped together with the rest of her team inside the cave. She saw the right side of Obito's body being crushed by the rock. She cried. She and Kakashi tried to lift up the rock from Obito. But Obito stopped the two of them.

"I'm the only one who don't give you a present at your jounin celebration.. right, Kakashi? Now I've came out with what to give you. Don't worry, its not a useless baggage, its this sharingan of mine." Obito choked out. All of them were looking at Obito with confused looks on their faces. Obito continued, "Rin, please take out my sharingan and implant it to Kakashi's left eye. I'm already going to die. But I can become your eye. And from now on, I will see the future.."

With that, Hikaru and Kakashi made a way out of the cave. Since she still could not move freely, she sat on the cave receiving medical treatment from Rin and watching over both Obito and Rin. Kakashi killed the enemy. Hikaru and Rin immediately evacuate after enemy reinforcement had came, leaving Obito burried alive between the rocks.

Kakashi then guided Hikaru and Rin to safety. He fought the enemy and soon fainted due to his chakra being drained. Minato suddenly appeared and defeat all of the enemies. He then brought Kakashi, Rin and Hikaru to a safe place.

*end of flashback*

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><p>so.. how was it? :P R&amp;R pwease! :P<p> 


	2. 2 The Reunification After 5 Years

Tears rolled down Hikaru's cheeks as the bitter memory played itself in her head. She walked very slowly towards Konoha's gate. The guards on duty did not bother to ask for her identity. They smiled at her. "Good to be back, Hikaru?" one of them asked with a gentle smile on his face.

She wiped her tears away and smiled at the two of them softly. "Good and bad" she whispered at them. Izumo and Kotetsu knew what she meant. They stepped aside from the gate, allowing her to enter the village.

As she walked on the streets of Konoha towards the Hokage's building, a man tapped her on the shoulder. Hikaru had spent five years wandering around the five great shinobi nations running away from her pain while carrying on a 'special mission' from the Hokage. This caused her to have a lot of ninjas who held grudges against her. They often ambushed her to try to kill her. Some even hired assassins to do it. Due to how she had lived for the past five years, she had expected the person who tapped her shoulder to be a paid assassin trying to harm her. She was used to being hunted down from behind and hence, she would always try to remove the threat even before her life was in danger. It was a reflex action, as natural as a knee-jerk reaction. She did not mean to punch him. Before her fist could land on his face, someone grabbed her wrist. She looked up to see a certain silver haired ninja. The person she missed the most. Her chest tightened as tears began to well up in her eyes. She had missed him a lot during her travel. Now that he was there in person, she felt so happy and content that she could burst. The conscious part of her brain reminded her of the present situation, pushing the emotional part away to the back of her mind temporarily. She suddenly remembered that she almost punched someone. She averted her attention from Kakashi towards Iruka who froze in front of her, terrified. He looked ghostly pale. Hikaru's eyes must have that coldness that she always had during assassination missions. Iruka must have thought that she was going to kill him. She immediately gave him a shy smile. "Sorry, Iruka-kun. I did not know that it was you" her face turned a darker shade of red when she heard Kakashi's chuckle.

"Karu-chan has gotten cruel.." Kakashi said playfully. She punched Kakashi on his arm lightly, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. How she had missed his teasing. Not that she would ever admit it. She always faked annoyance when he teased her. But she knew that it was his way of showing her how she was dear to him. She then noticed that he had grown even more muscular since the last time she last saw him. She stared at him for a while, checking him out unconsciously. She then felt her emotional part come running back. She didn't realize that she had missed him so terribly. Before she ran towards him and pounced on him, telling him how much she had missed him, someone suddenly snapped her back to reality from her thoughts.

"It's ok, Hikaru-chan. I know that you will never punch me on purpose." Iruka's voice was heard. It was full of humor. She turned back to look at Iruka and smiled at him. After quick pleasantries, Iruka waved her goodbye. She continued her walk towards the Hokage's office, Kakashi walking by her side. They didn't say anything, they didn't need to. Both of them was only savouring the comfortable silence that stretch between them, enjoying the company they provide for each other.

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><p>Before entering the office, she heard a loud scream.<p>

"HIKARU-CHAN!"

She looked at the source of the noise and saw a greenish creature moving towards her at a stunning speed. When the creature came nearer, she finally figured out that it was a human. It was none other than Maito Gai. She jumped away from her spot the instant she realized who it was. Gai could not stop himself on time, so he banged himself to the Hokage office's wall.

'_Auch!_' she thought as the sound of a body smacking hard into a brick wall was heard. She watched as Gai slid down to the floor limply and finally stayed flat on the floor. Both Kakashi and she laughed at the incident.

"My sweet Hikaru! You finally came back for me! 3" Gai yelled as he stood up quickly. She sweatdroped as she was amused yet disgusted by his actions. Kakashi laughed even louder this time.

"I'm not here for you, Gai. I'm here to report to the Hokage that I had returned and that I will not run away ever again" She said gently. Gai was notorious for his hot-blooded passion, but he can also be.. _fragile_. Or so Kakashi had told her. She would have sworn that she could hear Gai's heart breaking into millions of pieces. What can she do? He was always so dramatic, the _fragile_ part of him. She jumped down from the low roof and hid behind Kakashi. Kakashi then led her to the office, leaving Gai alone to cry his heart out.

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><p>She knocked at the office door and turned the doorknob once she heard the old man instructing them to come in. She walked into the office slowly and saw the old man's eyes widen. She grinned at him and bounced into the room. The third Hokage ran towards her and hugged her tightly. She returned the gesture. She and he are not blood related, but she always respected and loved him like her own grandfather and so does he. She will always be his little granddaughter with sets of different DNA.<p>

"Hi grandpa, I'm back". She said quietly, the silent promise of '_I will not run_ away_ anymore'_ was clear in the air. He pulled away from her and patted her head lightly.

"I'm glad that you are back Hikaru", he smiled at her. She then told him that she had nowhere to live, since she did not want to go back to the Uchiha clan's residential area. The pain was too much for her to handle. He looked down at her gently. He always had that gentle expression when he looked at her, even though he was very fierce towards other shinobi. He then searched his drawer and took a house key and gave it to her. "Here. You can use this three-room flat. You can also bring your brother and Naruto to live with you. Both of them live alone", the Hokage said.

"Arigatou, Hokage-sama!" she bowed at him and left his office.

Kakashi was waiting for her outside the office. He didn't want to interrupt. He then motioned her to follow him with a nod of his head. She followed silently, knowing where he was going to bring her. The memorial stone.

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><p>She knelt down in front of the stone. Kakashi crouched down next to her. She then felt his hands wrapped around her shoulder in a comforting gesture. She leaned on him, her head on his chest, trying to find her comfort in him, in the man she had a huge crush of since she was a twelve-year old. He stroke her long blue hair gently, he always do it to console her ever since they were young. She leaned into the touch. She then snapped her eyes shut as more painful flashbacks played inside her head. "I missed them" she said silently.<p>

"Me too" Kakashi replied. He then placed his hands around her waist, pulling her closer to him. He hugged her tightly in a warm embrace, the warm embraces that had always kept her nightmares away from her. Her face was now buried on his chest as she nuzzled at him. He knew that she remembered all those painful and horrible memories. He held her close to him, providing her comfort the only way he could. She closed her eyes, enjoying his presence, her terrorizing memories forgotten for the moment. It had been ages since the last time he had hugged her. Five years is really a long time. This is what she had missed the most about him. His comforting presence and the feel of his body against hers. The warmth of his body seeped slowly from him, warming her slowly all over and finally towards her heart. Her heart skipped a beat as she felt tingles on her skin from where his hand had touched her, at the side of her waist. It was a weird feeling which she had grown to like. It was like her body's natural response to his touches. She had started feeling tingly from his touches since she was fourteen. She wished that he would always be there for her, offering his warm embraces. He then kissed the top of her head softly, in a feather-like kiss. It was sweet and comforting. And it sent a jolt of another set of tingles on her body, not that the tingles from his hand on her hip had receded. Oh, how she longs for him to hold and kiss her every day, to the day that death do them part. However, she knew deep down that he only cared for her as his little sister. The little girl he would always protect, even if it will cost him his life, because of how important she is to him, but not the way she wants him to see her. _'He will never see me as a woman'_, she thought silently and bitterly.

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><p>Kakashi's P.O.V<p>

I knelt down in front of the memorial stone beside Hikaru. She looked so torn and broken, I could see all the grief and sorrow in her eyes. I did what I could. I wrapped my arms around her shoulder and hugged her sideways. I held her tightly close to me as I stroked her soft, beautiful blue hair, hoping that I would soothe and comfort her. She closed her eyes as those horrible memories came back to her. "I missed them" she whispered quietly.

"Me too" I replied. I shifted my hold on her shoulder to her waist, turning her to face me, hugging her even more tightly. She buried her face on my chest, nuzzling as she did, trying to find some comfort from me. I knew that she was trying her best not to cry. She didn't want to show me any weakness, not after how long we have not been around each other. She was holding back as she didn't want me to feel the devastation she felt. Little did she know that I could read and feel her emotion just by observing her body language and looking at her eyes. After a few moments of emotional struggle, she finally looked relaxed. She was not thinking about the painful past anymore. For now, at least. She was now enjoying my presence, the comfort and safety I was able to provide her. I am proud of myself for being able to make her feel safe when she was wrapped tightly in my arms. I am happy that I could provide her things that no man, as far as I know, was able to. But I knew that she would always view me as her older brother, the person that will always protect her, not a man who would do anything to keep his woman safe. My chest tightened painfully as I realized that I could never tell her how much I loved her, how much I had wanted her. It would only make her feel scared, especially if I told her that I had a freaking crush on her when she was only fucking eleven and I was seventeen, and I fell in love with her when she was only fifteen! I laughed humorlessly in my thought. As if being a pedophile would score a point from any woman. They would be running down the hills. Maybe not for Hikaru. _SHE _would send _ME_ running down the hills while she screamed murder at me. I do not want her to hate me. I would do anything to be spared from her resentment. My chest clenched painfully yet again, the feeling had been really familiar to me since I noticed her being more than just a little sister to me. I sighed heavily as I realize that I would have to suppress my feelings for her. I just have to keep what I feel to myself. I still want her in my life. It doesn't really matter if she stayed because she views me as an older brother rather than a man. I stroked her hair gently and kissed her the top of her head through my mask. The feel of my lips on her caused my lips to tingle, the mask seemed not to be doing a good job in keeping my covered lips from tingling all over. We stayed at the memorial stone for a couple of hours, reminiscing the past and enjoying the stretch of comfortable silence. We also used the opportunity in basking in each others' presence, finding our own comforts in each others.


	3. 3 Memoirs of the 4th Hokage

Normal P.O.V

The comfort that Kakashi gave her did not last for a long time. The temporarily suppressed memories forced themselves back into her mind. She still remembered vividly the gory details that lead to the death of her beloved sensei and adopted father. She also remembered how he always took care of her when she was still a little girl. He was always there for her. Playing with her, teaching her stuffs. She could never forget the man who had made her who she was in the present days. She relived the heart-breaking day when the person she admired the most died.

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><p>*FLASHBACK*<p>

As the day of Kushina's labour came nearer, the third Hokage paid a visit to Minato's house. They discussed about placing Kushina in a safe house of unknown location to give birth, where only the third, his wife, a few ANBUs directly under his command and Minato knew. He strictly told Minato and Kushina not to inform anyone else about the location. As they conversed, Minato noticed that Hikaru was peeping from her bedroom door. He then suggested bringing her along, as she was very good at sealing technique and that she was pretty strong in battle, in case any emergencies aroused. When the third hesitated about it, Minato brought up that she was always brought along by Minato wherever he went and that she was always helpful to him. The third finally agreed with Minato's suggestion.

The delivery day had finally arrived. Hikaru was in the hideout with Minato and Kushina. Kushina was screaming on top of her lungs in pain and agony. '_I'll never have a baby -_-_ ' Hikaru thought, seeing the strong and tough Kushina screaming like it was the end of the world. She had never heard the woman screamed for goodness sake! Well, except for the times when she scolded Minato or screaming murders at Jiraiya for peeping.

Minato was very nervous seeing his wife in pain. He had been in a lot of missions and battles with her. He had seen her wounded. He had seen her in her worst conditions, but those times had never accounted for her to scream this loud with so much agony. He couldn't concentrate on keeping the seal so Hikaru was in charge. He was too busy panicking about the pain his wife felt. The third Hokage's wife, Biwako yelled at Minato. "She's fine! Keep your eyes on the seal. Good lord you're the fourth Hokage! This is why women have babies. You men can't handle the pain!" she bellowed as she ranted about how men are useless and they can't take any pain. Hikaru couldn't help but to chuckle on the statement, agreeing with the Biwako. Minato seemed oblivious to the rant as he was still panicking about Kushina.

After long agonizing hours, Kushina finally gave birth to Naruto. Minato cried happy tears. He had never felt so happy and content in his life. He was finally a father! Although Hikaru is his daughter, she was more like a baby sister than a daughter. Hikaru matured too fast for her age. As he was busy cooing at Naruto, Hikaru giggled at his reaction. Minato often showed his soft and playful side, but this is the first time Hikaru ever saw him being this goofy. _'Tou-chan can be so sensitive at times_', she thought, smiling to herself as she saw that Minato's cheek was still stained by his happy tears. After calming down from his high, Minato tried to re-seal the kyuubi completely. Hikaru held Naruto in her arm, cooing at him. No wonder her tou-chan was being so goofy. This baby is so cute! She was very happy that she had another baby brother. She was definitely going to make Sasuke and Naruto be friends! Suddenly, she heard a loud dull thud. She whipped her head back quickly only to find out that Biwako and her assistant were lying limply on the ground. She then saw a masked man trying to grab Naruto from her. She jumped away from the man to create some distance and took out her kunai. She threw it at him. He dodged her kunai with ease, as if he was dodging paper balls thrown by a baby. She was shocked. Her kunai throwing skills exceed the skills of some ANBUs despite of her young age. She alternated her option and drew her katana, ready to charge at him. She charged and slashed it vertically across his shoulder blade. She was very sure that she saw her blade slashing the man, however, her sense of feel told her that her blade had only slashed the air. She gaped in shock for a moment. She quickly rearranged her emotion. Before she could turn around to launch another attack, he kicked her to the other side of the room and took Naruto from her.

"Back away from the jinchuuriki" the man ordered Minato. Minato looked at the man, mixture of emotions reflected in his eyes. The dominant one was anger. "Or else, I will kill your son" the man continued. The man threw Naruto up in the air. He then made a gesture that shows that he was ready to stab Naruto to death by using a kunai. Minato jumped towards Naruto, catching and saving him from the man. Before he could check whether his son was alright, he noticed that the man had placed explosive tags on Naruto's cover blanket. He took the blanket hastily away, throwing it across the room before using the hiraishin to get out of the house, so that Naruto was unharmed.

The masked man approached Kushina immediately after Minato left. Hikaru threw another kunai at him in an attempt to get him away from Kushina. This time, she focused her chakra onto the kunai, making the kunai able to move faster. The kunai hit the man and he was burnt slightly, as the chakra type she channelled was fire. The man glared and glowered at her. He had a sharingan eye which was visible from the peephole of the mask. She immediately activated her sharingan as well. She knew that she had no chance in beating a sharingan user of his calibre without activating her own. She charged onto him as she focused her lightning chakra transformation into her katana. Again, she slashed the air, and the masked man had disappeared from her sight. She suddenly felt a sharp pain piercing her back. He then kicked her down to the ground. She tried to push herself up, but she was not able to move her body. She immediately realized that he had casted a paralysis jutsu on her. She saw him taking Kushina away. After he had left, she was able to control her body again. She prepared herself to go to where Minato was. She knew a little of Minato's hiraishin. However, she could only teleport to where Minato was. She weaved a series of handsigns and arrived at a house. Minato immediately handed Naruto over to her. A silent command to take care of his baby boy was clear across the room. She took Naruto into her arms as Minato left to safe Kushina.

Hikaru realized that she needed back up. Whoever took Kushina is a very dangerous man. She suspected that he took Kushina so that he could use the kyuubi for his own selfish purpose. She summoned her trusted wolf, Ami. "Call Kakashi here!" she said. Ami barked and left to get Kakashi to where she was at. A few minutes had passed when Minato reappeared. Hikaru took Kushina's arm around her shoulder as she supported Kushina to walk to the bed, helping her lay on the bed beside Naruto. Minato had left as soon as he had arrived.

Ami came back running with Kakashi. "Guard nee-chan* and Naruto" Hikaru told Ami. She then held Kakashi's hand and transported them to the battle field. They landed on top of the second Hokage's head. She saw Minato fighting the masked man. Minato then disappeared using the hiraishin. She seized the moment and charged at the man using chidori. The element of surprise finally allowed her to hit him. The man stepped back as she retracted her hand from his shoulder. She smirk in satisfaction as she saw his left arm bleeding due to her chidori. He then disappeared from her sight. She knew that he went after Minato. Kakashi signalled her to look at the heart of the village. Her heart skipped a beat as dread ran through her vein. She saw the kyuubi rampaging at the outskirts of the village. Kakashi signalled her to rush after him to where the kyuubi was, to stop its rampage. The thoughts of the masked man was pushed aside, as both of them knew that Minato could handle him alone.

The kyuubi was being pushed away from the village by Konoha shinobi. Upon arriving, Hikaru jumped to his nose, knowing that the sharingan had the ability to control the kyuubi. She activated her sharingan in an attempt to control it. However, due to the limited knowledge she possessed on how to control the kyuubi, she failed to put it under her control. It was still being controlled by the masked man. The kyuubi went more berserk because of Hikaru's attack instead of calming down. The move had agitated it. After howling and pounding on everything within his half-mile radius, the kyuubi swatted Hikaru off its nose, sending her plummeting to the ground. She was sure that she was going to die from the impact of colliding with the cold hard ground underneath. She braced herself for the impact, for the pain that she would surely feel. Instead of the harsh ground, she felt a strong pair of hands catching and holding her. She was then placed gently to the ground none other by her hero of a brother, Kakashi. "Don't be reckless, Karu" he scolded. Relief was etched across his face as he let go of her. She nodded slowly. She snapped her head back and saw that the kyuubi was going to release a bijudama. The bijudama suddenly disappeared and she saw Gamabunta holding the kyuubi to the ground, with the fourth on top of Gamabunta. She teleported next to the fourth.

"Stay back, Karu" he ordered sternly.

"No. Never! I will never let you fight it alone! Besides, my sharingan might be useful" she insisted. There was no way in this world or in any other parallel universe that she would let her tou-chan fight such a dangerous creature alone. Minato sighed. He knew that he can never win an argument with her once she put her heart on it.

"Just stay safe, Karu. Be careful." he said warily. She nodded and gave him a reassuring smile. She held on to his robe as he teleported the kyuubi away from Konoha.

Hikaru held on to Naruto while Minato carried Kushina, running away from the kyuubi. They had planned to set up a barrier, but they had no time to execute it. As Minato placed Kushina down, she chained the fox down with her chakra to stop its movement, buying time for the three to escape. It was a suicide move. "Nee-chan. Stop it" Hikaru said pleadingly. She couldn't bear the thought of losing the woman who had assumed a motherly role for her. Hikaru handed Naruto to Minato and walked towards the demon fox. She stood in front of the kyuubi with her sharingan activated. She stared into its eye, willing it to comply to her demand with the glare of her eyes. The kyuubi stopped trashing and went calmer. A small smile was painted on her lips as she knew that she was successful. However, the kyuubi started to trash around more violently than it had ever done before, and it started dividing itself. Hikaru gasped in surprise as she took a step back. The divided kyuubi turned to be significantly smaller than before. One of the kyuubi had the same sharingan eyes as Hikaru's, while the other one remained as a miniature version of the pre-divided kyuubi. The one with the eye pinned the other kyuubi, holding it flat on the ground. The kyuubi without the sharingan trashed about in protest. Hikaru started walking towards the uncontrolled kyuubi. Her eyes, however, gave up on her as they switched back to the Uchiha's trademark onyx eyes. She had run out of chakra. Fortunately, the other kyuubi seemed to still be under her control despite her lack of chakra. She continued to focus her mind to connect it with the tamed kyuubi to restrain the other half.

Minato began to form a series of handsigns. Both Kushina and he were running out of chakra as well. Kushina was not able to stay any longer. The chain she created had loosen around the untamed kyuubi as it was slowly being retracted back towards Kushina's body. Tears began to form on the corner of Hikaru's eyes. Both of her adopted parents were planning suicide. Minato had finished setting up the eight trigrams seal. He placed Naruto in the middle of the seal set up. He then used a forbidden jutsu to seal the untamed yang kyuubi chakra inside Naruto, along with a fraction of his and Kushina's chakra. Kushina passed away as she ran out of chakra. Tears flowed freely on Hikaru's cheeks as she watched Kushina's lifeless body laying motionlessly on the ground. Minato looked torn as well, his eyes were watery. Minato approached Hikaru and started to draw a seal on her stomach. Hikaru re-activated her sharingan, using the last ounce of her chakra to do so. She converted the kyuubi's physical form into a mass of chakra. Minato then sealed the chakra inside of her. She screamed and almost fainted due to the pain of the kyuubi chakra being inserted into her. She felt as if her stomach was stabbed repeatedly by thousands of knives, and her body was burned at the same time. She panted heavily as she tried to grasp oxygen and forced it into her lungs.

A new set of tears rolled down her cheeks as Minato kissed the top of her head. The physical pain she was feeling was nothing compared to what she knew was going to happen. Minato was going after Kushina to the other world. Her heart throbbed painfully at the thought of being left by the man she admired the most. "Take care, Karu. Take care of yourself, Naruto and Kakashi" he said, smiling despite of all that had happened that day. He stroked her cheek one last time before fading and vanishing into thin air, after finishing the contract term of the forbidden jutsu. She closed her eyes, willing herself to be strong for the newborn baby. She then crawl towards Naruto and hugged him tightly.

'_I'll protect this boy, even if it cost my life_', she swore to herself.

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><p>AN: I cried when reading the chapter, and again when watching the anime! It was just so touching and heartbreaking.. T^T ..

So, tell me what you think by posting reviews! Constructive feedback is much appreciated! :)

*Hikaru called Kushina '_Kushina-nee-chan'_ as Kushina did not want Hikaru to call her 'Kaa-san'. Kushina said that it would make her sound old, and thae fact that she liked to tease Mikoto about being 'old' as Mikoto had given birth to Hikaru :D

If you need any clarification with the story line, you can just write it in the review :D


	4. 4 The First Real Interactions

Chapter 4. The First Real Interactions After 5 Painful Years

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><p>AN: Chapter title were too long, apparently.

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><p>Hikaru was still lost in her painful flashback. She stared blankly at the empty space of the memorial park, trying to gather her thoughts. Suddenly, she felt a hand on her cheek, wiping her tears away, pulling her back to the reality. She hadn't even realized that she had been crying. So much for trying to be strong for Kakashi. "If only I was stronger.. This would never happen" she muttered silently, closing her eyes to stop herself from crying further. It didn't work. Traitorous tears kept on spilling from her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. Kakashi's hand continued to diligently wipe the tears away.<p>

"It was not your fault. It never was. You were only eight back then, Karu." Kakashi whispered softly in her ears. He hugged her tighter, trying to bring their bodies closer together, though it was an impossible feat due to how much Hikaru's had already been pressed to his. She wrapped her arms around his neck and shifted on his hold as she snuggled closer to his chest. She rested her head on the crook of his neck. He placed an arm on her back and another behind her knees as he carried her bridal style to his place.

Hikaru vaguely remembered Kakashi did the same thing after Minato's and Kushina's death. He had carried her and Naruto exactly the same way he was carrying her now. Her memory was hazy though. The pain of losing two of the most important people in her life had been too much to handle. Especially because one of them is the person who she treasured very dearly, even to this day. She remembered that she was crying on the ground holding on to Naruto when Kakashi picked them up from the ground, carrying her bridal style with Naruto tucked at the curve of her arms. He had brought them back to Minato's house. She remembered him placing her gently on her bed, while she was still holding Naruto, clutching onto his small frame while she cried her heart out. He also gave her a goodnight kiss on the forehead and patted Naruto's head affectionately. He sat on a chair next to her bed the whole time, watching over them. She also vaguely remembered the sound of chair scraping on the ground, indicating that Kakashi was trying to leave the room quietly when he thought that the two of them had fallen asleep. Kakashi had stayed the night in Minato's apartment, asleep on the couch in the living room.

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><p>Kakashi unlocked his apartment door and swiftly entered it. He glanced at the hallway leading up to his apartment before shutting the door with a kick. One can never be too careful right? Being in the village doesn't give an excuse of not being careful. Who knows what kind of people are following or watching you? Kakashi gently sat Hikaru down on his kitchen chair as he went over to the stove. He boiled a pot of water to make a cup of tea for Hikaru to calm her down and to make her feel relaxed. Feeling lonely, Hikaru stood up and hugged him from behind, just the way she always did when they were younger, when she needed Kakashi's comfort. Kakashi stiffen as he was taken aback by her sudden action. The contact had sent jolts of electricity running down his spine. She let go of him immediately. She frowned at the thought that he hated the contact. Hurt flooded through her body. Her lips trembled slightly as she stifled her sobs. '<em>Pathetic<em>' Hikaru thought. '_Stop getting your hopes up! He would never see you that way! You're just a child to him!'_ Her thoughts were interrupted when Kakashi turned around andgrabbed her wrist, pulling her close to him in a tight embrace. Relief washed all over her. He had not hated the contact. He was just surprised. A smile made it way to the corners of her lips. '_If only he knows my feelings.._', she sighed wistfully. Her smile faltered into a wry one as she snorted at the thought. Things will only get awkward between them if he knew. He would try to reject her while trying not to hurt her feelings. She grimaced at her silly thought of the chance of Kakashi liking her back. She had had a tiny crush on Kakashi ever since she was twelve. The feelings that she had for him now is stronger than what she had ever felt for him before. A sudden whistling sound that indicates the water has boiled jolted her from her reveries. She watched silently as Kakashi took tea cups out of the cupboards and settled them on the kitchen counter. He placed the tea leaves inside the cups, and finally the boiling water. How he had managed to do it so easily while still holding Hikaru in his arms, she would never know. But she was glad that she did not have to lose the contact that she had shared with him while he worked on the tea. She really hated being six years younger than him. She wished that she was older. If she was, maybe there was a chance that Kakashi would feel the same way about her. Or at least, he would view her as a woman, not a child. If that was the case, she would have a better chance in making Kakashi like her in a romantic way. In their current age gap, she knew that Kakashi would only see her as a little sister who he needed to protect. But, the bad thing of having a lesser age gap is that, even if Kakashi saw her as a woman but he did not share the same feelings as hers, she would not be able to find any reason to be close to him. Sure, they can be friends. But she couldn't cling to Kakashi every time she needed his comfort like she was doing now. That would feel really awkward between friends. She stared at her tea blankly as her mind swirled around tons of thoughts.

"Karu. Hikaru.." she heard someone calling her name. "Are you alright?" she looked up at the source of voice and saw Kakashi looking at her intently, concern filling his onyx eye. She was surprised to find herself sitting down sideways with her side pressing on the backrest of the kitchen chair. She hadn't even realized that Kakashi had moved them away from the counter. She looked at Kakashi's eye and remembered his question. She smiled lightly and nodded slowly at him, answering his question. "You know that you can tell me anything right? Your darkest secrets will be kept safe" Kakashi said as he stroked her head, while hugging her sideways from behind the chair, wrapping his arms around her shoulders. He rested his chin on her head as he continued to play with her hair, twirling it with his fingers.

"It's nothing. I was just.. Kind of spaced out.." she said distractedly. She noted that he was _way_ too close to her. A light blush crept into her face as the warmth of his body slowly seeped to hers. The tingly sensation that she felt did not help her finding an excuse on why she had spaced out earlier. There's no way she would tell him the truth. She was too afraid to. Afraid that if she did tell him, he would stay away from her thinking that she is one of his obsessed fan-girls. Or that things would be awkward between them and that there would be no more Kakashi to comfort her. He looked at her with 'I don't buy that' eyes, well, more like eye, but he decided to let it pass as he felt that her thoughts did not weigh that much. It was not one of those troubling thoughts that he needed to smoothen out of her in order to make her feel normal again. Little did he know that the thoughts she was having were the ones that made the both of them get so lost in thoughts that they have difficulties to sleep at night.

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><p>Kakashi's P.O.V<p>

Hikaru looked weird. Something must be bothering her. I can tell and hopefully am right that whatever it was did not matter that much. But why doesn't she share it with me? She always tells me what happened. No matter how small or big. Maybe the matter did not concern me at all, or did she not trust me anymore? After all the loss she suffered maybe it was hard for her to trust anyone ever again. But she did trust me. She had always confided in me. Did her trust just disappear in the five years that she spent away from Konoha? I was lost in thoughts trying to figure out the reasons she acted the way she did and why did she hid things from me. As I was lost in my internal monologue, I felt her head resting on my chest. Maybe she was just tired. I glanced down at her and saw that she had _that_ peaceful look painted on her beautiful face. My heart ache at the thought of how beautiful she was, and how I can never have her. But it doesn't matter. As long as I can keep her safe and make her happy, having her close to me is all that I need. I unconsciously stroked the top of her head with my fingertips. I looked at her face again. She looked really cute when she sleeps. That peaceful face of hers she has when sleeping is probably the only thing that shows that she is indeed fragile, contrary to popular belief. It shows that she still needed someone in her life that can provide her with safety and stability. She had been living in a very dangerous and unstable life. Not knowing when the angel of death finally decided to take her life, or the lives of the people she loved. Well, not that there were many people she treasured that were still alive. Most of them had died. The only ones left would be her brothers, the third Hokage and probably myself. My heart swelled at the thought that I would probably be the only one who could provide her with both. The Hokage is getting too old to be able to protect her. Itachi? It would be the other way around. Until now, she was still trying to find a way to clear his name and get him back to Konoha. I sighed as I looked at her face. She really is gorgeous. I shall be content with just being there for her, even though I desperately want to have her as my lover. I sighed again as I carried her up to my room and carefully tucked her in my bed. I do not want to wake her up. She looked tired enough, just returning to Konoha from Kami knows where. I pulled the cover up to her chest so that she would not feel cold. Speaking of her chest, it really grew a lot bigger since last time. The last time I saw her, they were still as flat as a washing board. Even my pectoral muscle showed more swell. Well, what should I expect? She is twenty now. She was fifteen the last time I saw her. She is such a late bloomer. My perverted brain caused my eyes to drift and stare at her chest again. Her boobs are very nice and round. She can definitely fit into D-cup easily. The scenes from my beloved Icha Icha Paradise played in my head, causing me to get hard. Damn it. Stupid book. Stupid Minato-sensei and Jiraiya-sama. Why must the two of them introduced me to Jiraiya's perverted book? I mentally slapped myself for thinking about her in such a way. She does not need a pervert of a brother. Don't scare her away! I better get out of this room before I do anything that would scare Hikaru for life. I have to think using my head and not what I have down there. I sighed as I stepped out of my room, closing the door behind me without making any sound. I did not want to wake Hikaru up. She needed her rest. I went downstairs and sat on the sofa in my living room. I took a book out from the rack. No, it was not Icha Icha Paradise. I do have decent books in my house! It was a jutsu compilation book full of all the jutsus I had learnt and copied all these time. I really wanted to watch Hikaru sleep but my damned perverted brain would likely make me think using my hard on and not my rational brain. I sighed in irritation at myself. I really have to stop thinking about Hikaru in a sexual way. She would not appreciate it at all. I began losing interest in my reading material as my eyelids began to grow heavy. I am still tired from my back to back mission which just ended yesterday. I finally dozed off on the sofa after about an hour of reading.

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><p>Hikaru's P.O.V<p>

I opened my eyes lazily as I was still very sleepy. I had travelled all the way from Suna to Konoha without stopping. As I was able to cast the sleepiness aside, I took in my surroundings. I bolted upright immediately. I don't remember ever being in this room! The room was quite bare and simply decorated. It was painted in light grey. The only furniture in the room was a book shelve, a small couch at the corner of the room and a bed. I started panicking as I realized that this room is definitely not a room in an inn. I calmed down immediately when I glanced behind me. Above the bed's headboard, on the window sill, was a picture of Minato's team and an alarm clock. I relaxed when I remembered that I had gone to Kakashi's house. I must be sleeping in Kakashi's room. '_So he repainted his room. It was light blue last time'. _I looked around the room again. Kakashi was nowhere to be seen. I stared on the empty spaces on the bed surrounding me. The bed was king sized. The bed sheets and pillows were in matching colours. I smiled as they were in my favourite shade of blue. I had given him a set of bed sheets of the same colour when he first move into this apartment when he was sixteen. He must have bought a supply of the same type of sheets. The comforter was pitch black. His favourite colour. I looked around once again. There were pillows everywhere, littering the bed. There must at least be ten of them! I laughed at Kakashi's sleeping habit. He had told me that he liked having a lot of pillows as they kept him warm and comfortable at night, and they also made him feel less lonely, as his bed space was occupied. He had often joked that he enjoyed lying with me on his bed, as I was a better bed companion compared to his pillows. As my mirth died down, a frown slowly slipped to my face. Why is Kakashi not sleeping with me? He had always slept beside me whenever he carried me to his room, and sometimes mine too, especially when I was exhausted from missions or when I was having my nightmares. He even told me that he liked sleeping with me! I plopped down the bed as I did a stretch. I stood up and opened the door. From the second floor, I could see that Kakashi was sleeping on the couch downstairs. He was lying awkwardly on the couch as he was too tall to fit into it. A book lay opened on top of his chest. I slowly walked down the stairs towards him. A small smile crept into my lips. He looked super cute when he sleeps. I brought my hands towards my cheeks and tap them gently, slapping myself. What am I thinking? We can never be together. He will never return my feelings. He will only think of me as his little sister. He will never see me as a woman. I sighed heavily and ran a hand through my hair. I knelt down beside him and removed his hitai-ate, revealing his other eye. I ran my fingers softly through his hair. Without thinking, I followed my instinct. I kissed his forehead lightly. At the moment, it seemed like the only affectionate gesture I could think of. But it was _way _too affectionate for it to be innocent as I started trailing my fingers on the contours of his face as soon as my lips touched his forehead. When I finally trailed my fingers on his covered lips, I retraced my hands to my sides immediately as I saw him stirring slowly, waking up.

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><p>Kakashi's P.O.V<p>

I felt a pair of soft lips brushing lightly against my forehead. I smiled to myself. I must be having another dream about Hikaru. Please don't let it be another wet one! I vaguely feel something soft trailing my face. It lingered on my lips for a few seconds, causing tingles to spread on it. Wait, I should be home alone. I jerked open my eyes expecting someone to break in. To my joy, I saw an angel. Hikaru was slightly hovering over me. She backed away immediately. So my dream was not that unreal. I smiled goofily to myself. I know that she was just missing me. It was a pleasant surprise that she was back, and she was not going to leave again, at least on the near future. Had it not for my perverted brain, I would have cuddled with her on my bed. It was just surreal knowing that she was back after five long years she had been gone. There was just a need to touch her, to assure myself that she was indeed here with me, and I was not dreaming. I know that she was just feeling the same way. That kiss on the forehead is definitely not a romantic gesture. As she tried to back away, I sat up and pulled her towards me so that she was sitting next to me. She then wrapped her arms around my waist, her head buried on my shoulder. I began to stroke her hair lightly. Feeling her body pressed against me was the best feeling I had ever experienced. '_Want to know something that would feel better? Your naked bodies pressing against each others. Want to know what's even better? Being inside of her!_' I shook my head, trying to get my mind out of the gutter. I really need to stop thinking about her sexually. After calming down a little, I removed my mask and kissed the top of her head. I pulled her closer to me, hugging her tightly. I really missed being this close to her. I don't want to let her go. Ever. I want to hold her like this for as long as I live, for all eternity. If only she knew how much I love her!

"Kashi-nii" she suddenly murmured on my chest. Well, a lot of time had probably passed since I pulled her into a hug.

"Uhm?" I hummed just as softly. I did not want to disrupt the atmosphere. It was just perfect. This is one of the rare moments we have where we could just enjoy each other's comfort without worrying about anything.

"Do you think they will forgive me?" worry and fear were evident on her tone. I kissed her head again in a comforting gesture.

"Of course they will, Karu. You are their beloved sister after all" I replied, trying my best to reassure her. I know they will. I don't even think that they were mad at her. They would understand.

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><p>Hikaru's P.O.V<p>

Kakashi whispered softly in my ear, trying his best to reassure me. I know that he is not a guy who said empty promises just to console someone. He always speaks of the truth. However, I wasn't sure about what he had said. I doubted that Naruto and Sasuke would ever forgive me. I left them. I left them alone, in this cold harsh world due to my own selfishness. They had no one, and they were so young! I left them to run away from my pain, which did not work at all. I should not have left them. They were my family, the only ones I have left! I didn't know what to do now. I am scared. I wanted to trust Kakashi like I always do, but it seem impossible now. "Trust me, Karu. You know you can" Kakashi said, bringing me back from my muse.

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><p>R&amp;R please! :D<p> 


	5. 5 Meeting Naruto

Normal P.O.V

Hikaru stood up, pulling herself away from Kakashi's embrace. She didn't want to let go of him, but she had to. She had an unfinished business she had to take care of. She needed to straighten things between her and her brothers. Kakashi stood up as well. She walked towards the door, Kakashi following close behind her. She was grateful for it. His support meant a lot to her. His presence was always encouraging, calming and somehow soothing. They lapsed into silence as they walked out of Kakashi's place. He did not need to ask where they were heading. They both knew. They were headed for Naruto's house. Her former house. She deliberately walked extra slowly on the streets of Konoha, stalling for time. Fear was clouding her mind. She was dreading the moment of meeting Naruto. She was afraid to see hatred being reflected in his beautiful blue eyes, which was the exact same shade as his father's. Hikaru relaxed slightly when she felt a hand holding hers. It soothed her more when she saw a smile forming through that damned black mask of his. His smile is just like his presence, soothing, calming and comforting. She gave him a small smile as they continued to walk on the streets of Konoha. She had been more relaxed now, compared to when she had just walked out of his door. Kakashi placed his hand on her waist when they had finally reached Naruto's front door. Hikaru looked at Kakashi who gave her an encouraging look. She took a deep breath, gathering her courage as she began knocking on the door.

As the door opened slowly, Hikaru had the urge to run. Kakashi had moved to stand on the roof of Naruto's apartment. He gave her a stern look. Hikaru sighed as she stilled herself, waiting for the door to be opened fully. As it opened, a sleepy-looking yellow-haired boy appeared in front of her. The boy was holding a cup of instant ramen in one hand and the other one was on the doorknob. He also had strings of ramen suspended in his mouth. His eyes widened as he realized who was standing in front of him. He swallowed all the ramen in his mouth in one big gulp and placed the ramen cup carefully on the floor, so that he can finish it later. Yep, ramen over family! He then jumped with all his might at a stunning pace and clung to her, making her lost her balance and fell flat on her back, Naruto right on top of her. He lifted his head slightly, still not letting her go from his grasp.

"HIKARU NEE-CHAN! YOU'RE BACK!" he screamed excitedly. A goofy smile formed on his face. He was very loud. The whole village probably heard him. The boy finally let her go after a few minutes of hugging. She stood up, as she was freed from him, only to be hugged again by the boy. This time gently. "Don't ever leave me again, nee-chan" Naruto whispered softly. His face was painted with both relief and worry.

"I will never leave you ever again, Naruto-chan" she said just as soft, maybe softer. She saw his face brightened up from her words. A HUGE grin formed on his lips, threatening to split his face.

"OH YEAH!" he screamed and jumped with joy. "So you will be staying here tonight, right, nee-chan? Where's your stuffs?" he asked excitedly as he bounced at the balls of his feet.

"No, Naruto" she replied. Naruto's face fell. She could have sworn that if she was to measure how long his face fell, it would be about a foot and a half. "You will come and stay at my apartment. It's bigger than your house.." she said after she had successfully hid her grin. Naruto jumped and hugged her once again with a bone-cracking force. Even Orochimaru's constricting snakes didn't apply as much force as Naruto's hug. As he pulled away, she saw that he had that HUGE grin on his face once again. It seemed impossible, but she was sure that his grin was wider than before. How he did it without snapping some muscles, she would never know.

Hikaru told Naruto to pack his stuff and that she would come by to his house again at about seven, a good four hours from now. She walked away from his house to the direction of a place she never wanted to visit ever again, under any circumstances. She felt her foot weighing a ton each as she started to walk to the place she wanted to forget so badly.

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><p>AN: short chapter. stay tuned in for more! :)

R&R please :D


	6. 6 The Uchiha Massacre

As Hikaru dragged her feet towards the Uchiha residential area, Kakashi appeared beside her. He placed his hand on her shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze. She placed her hand on top of his and gave it a gentle squeeze, appreciating his comforting gesture. They both know how difficult it was for her to even look at the gate of the residential entrance after the incident, let alone setting a foot on the compound. Hikaru took a sharp intake of breath and blew it out in a heavy sigh as she continued trudging into her destination with Kakashi.

She stopped walking as soon as she could see the grand-looking gate which marked the compound's entrance. '_Uchiha's Residential Compound_' was carved neatly and beautifully on an arc which stood proudly above the massive entrance gate. Stone walls which marked the perimeter of the housing compound were joined to the gate. She stood a good few yards away before the entrance. The scene of that fateful night resurfaced from her deeply buried memory, replaying itself in her head again for the zillionth time. She closed her eyes briefly and willed herself not to break down, as not only did the memory had sprung back, but also her feelings that she had tried so badly to lock away in the depths of her mind. She clenched her fist tightly as she started feeling the same way she did that night, angry, hurt, frustrated and the feeling she hated the most but had unfortunately dominated all the others – helplessness. She hated being helpless. And she had taken the blame for what had happened that night. It happened because she was weak and helpless - she was not able to stop her little brother from carrying the killing spree. Anger started to boil in her veins. She was not solely to be blamed for what had happened. There are people who have a larger share of the blame, and they will have to pay for it. She would personally ensure that they pay. She had sworn that one day, she would definitely kill Danzo and the two councillors - Homura and Koharu. She would do anything to keep her oath and exact her revenge.

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><p>*Flashback*<p>

Hikaru, Kakashi and Itachi had risen through the ranks in ANBU soon after they had joined the force. The third Hokage had even chosen Hikaru to be the captain at the age of twelve, two years after she had joined in.

The Uchiha clan's residential area had been moved to the outskirts of Konoha due to the kyuubi incident eight years back. The masked man who attacked Kushina had been deduced to be a member of the Uchiha clan, as he possessed the sharingan. However, Hikaru knew that even if he was an Uchiha, he was not from Konoha. His chakra felt different, although some traits are painfully familiar. She had never sensed any chakras which was exactly the same as the masked man's. She had assumed that the chakra felt familiar because of the sharingan. He also had a special sharingan, the mangekyo sharingan. She knew that none of the Uchiha in Konoha had awakened the mangekyo sharingan at the time. Right now, she and Shisui was the only ones. He had awoken his during a mission, and hers awaken when the kyuubi's chakra was sealed inside of her.

The Uchiha had felt the discrimination of the village higher-ups against them. They could not accept it. As a result, they had decided to carry out a coup d'état against Konoha to show people that Konoha was nothing without the Uchiha. The Uchiha assigned Itachi as an agent to leak the information from the village to them. Hikaru, on the other hand, was not trusted as much as Itachi by the Uchiha, as she had been adopted by the fourth since she was two. The Uchiha knew that she would take the village's side due to her loyalty. However, Itachi was a double agent and his loyalty lies with the village. He leaked the information about Uchiha's coup preparations to Konoha's side. The third had wanted to conduct a peaceful talk and discussion with the Uchiha, but Danzo and the councillors had vetoed to oppose his idea. Instead, Danzo and the councillors had ordered Itachi to commit the Uchiha clan's massacre.

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><p>"Namikaze-taicho, Hatake-san and Uchiha-san, please report to the Hokage's office now" an ANBU messenger announced shortly. The three of them immediately hurried to go to the office. As they entered the Hokage's workplace, they found Danzo and the two councillors sitting on the chairs around the Hokage's working desk.<p>

"Uchiha Itachi, please report" commanded Koharu haughtily.

"The coup will be carried in a month's time, milady" Itachi answered emotionlessly.

"Arrange a talk with your father" the third spoke, his tone full of authority.

"No. Peaceful talk will resolve nothing. We must take actions" Danzo said calmly yet fiercely. Hikaru lightly frowned at him.

"Actions?" Homura asked, a little confused. Hikaru raised an eyebrow at Danzo's direction.

"A massacre" Danzo replied without any emotion, he didn't even bat his eyelash as he said it. Hikaru's eyes widened in shock.

"WHAT? Are you out of your mind?" Hikaru blurted out angrily. There was no way in hell or in any other place she would let him do it! She would never let him harm her family! Even though the Uchiha had somewhat kind of disowning her, she just could not tolerate the thought of people wanting to hurt them. Just what is Danzo scheming? What is his ulterior motive by suggesting this massacre?

"I agree. It is the best solution" Koharu said with a shrug. '_That bitch! She agreed just like that? No second thoughts whatsoever?' _Hikaru thought darkly. She was royally pissed off. She knew that the councillors were idiots who could be manipulated easily, but she had never thought that they were _that _shallow. She knew that the reason Hiruzen had placed the two as councillors was partly because he could easily coax and manipulate those two to follow and agree with his plan, although the exact same reason made them un-ideal to hold their positions, as Danzo could also use them easily, like what he was doing right now.

"You are crazy" Hikaru finally said through gritted her teeth. She clenched her fist, trying to calm herself down. No point in pissing the queen bitch by using colourful language to describe her. Flattery seemed to be the only option, no matter how much she hated to do it, since she could not even find any good point to flatter the skank.

"Hikaru is right. We can't get into actions before talks. A talk can avoid unnecessary conflicts and confrontations" the third said wisely. He always hated conflict. His motto of ruling is to solve problems faced by discussions, preferably without having to use any force.

"No. It is the Uchiha clan we are talking about. Talks will get nowhere" Homura added after Danzo had sent him a meaningful look. Hikaru's blood was boiling. What a feather-brained, witless prat! He was that easy to be influenced?! Did he even have his own opinion? Well, probably not. That's why he was just that easy to be swayed! She felt like ripping open the heads of the three of Konoha's higher-ups. They are all useless. They were not helping the Hokage at all, contrary to their positions. They were just burdening him! Her hands were itching to kill them. Well, she would most probably be hunted down and killed in the most brutal fashion after she did it, but it would be worth it.

"We should try the talk" Kakashi suggested lazily. He was eyeing Hikaru and Itachi who kept their faces blank. He knew how angry and frustrated Hikaru was, but he could not really do anything. He would get hurt if he tried to calm Hikaru down. He grimaced at the thought. Yup, Hikaru is super royally pissed right now.

"Silence. You have no right to comment" Koharu snapped angrily at Kakashi's remarks. This sent Hikaru over the edge. So much for being the tame and timid dog.

"Then why the fuck did you called us here?" Hikaru half-yelled, as the idiots had finally blown her top. Royally pissed had became the understatement of the century. All she wanted to do was to torture them to death in the slowest, most painful and most humiliating manner.

"You are here to listen to our plans and discussion" Danzo explained, a smug smirk was forming at the corners of his filthy mouth. His mouth is probably just as dirty as his asshole. For some odd reason, he seemed to like to rile Hikaru up. It was like his personal addiction was to get Hikaru so mad to the point of wanting nothing but to mutilate him into a disfigured lump of body mass. He was just that kind of sick bastard. It was as if he was aroused at the thought of someone wanting him dead. Hikaru brought her hand backward, touching the hilt of her katana. "There are Root personals in front of the door" Danzo said calmly.

"I can take care of fifty of them without breaking a sweat" she threatened. She knew that once havoc break loose, Kakashi and Itachi would back her up in dealing with the Roots. She would definitely be sweaty and slightly bloody, but she would surely be capable of eliminate fifty Roots without getting herself killed. Well, not that there would be that much root personals out there. Ten tops. She gripped her katana, drawing it out slightly. Most of the blade was still sheathed inside the scabbard.

"Hikaru" the third said in a reprimanding tone. Threatening Danzo would definitely get her into serious trouble. He did not want that to happen.

"Sumimasen, Hokage-sama" she replied, letting go of her sword and remained still. Her teeth were ground together, her fist clenched. Her eyes filled with burning hatred. She was shaking with fury.

"Alright. The three of you are dismissed" Koharu said. Hikaru stormed out of the door immediately. She could no longer stand being in the same room as the three higher-ups. Another minute would cause her to make rash and stupid decisions due to her anger. Spending time with those scums would only make her stupider. She would rather hang out with the pre-genin at the academy! Even they are smarter than the two councillors! As she and the other two were walking out of the Hokage's building, Hikaru was planning on 101 ways to get rid of Danzo and the two damned councillors forever. Without getting herself into trouble, of course.

"Hikaru" Kakashi said softly after they were out of the building. He frowned at her. '_Is she ok?'_

"Itachi, today there is a clan meeting, right?" Hikaru asked suddenly, ignoring Kakashi. She knew that he would tell her to take a breather. She did not bother to listen to him. How could she take a breather in this kind of situation? She was so mad that she didn't think that she would be able to calm herself down by the time the sun sets.

"Yes" Itachi simply replied. He was thinking as hard as Hikaru was on how to prevent the massacre and the coup. The Uchiha is his family. And there is Sasuke to think about..

"Before the meeting and further planning, I'll ask otou-sama to discuss stuff with the Hokage before he finalized the plan to carry out the coup" Hikaru said. She still had some time. Itachi had told her that they had only roughly discussed on what to do during the coup, and the exact dates and venues. They however, had not finalized the small details of it.

"He will know that I have been a double agent" Itachi said. Hikaru looked at him questioningly. "Otou-sama told everyone not to discuss about the coup in public. It was only to be discussed during clan meetings" he added. "He had also specifically told me to keep it a secret from you" he finished. Hikaru nodded as she lapsed into silence. She raked her brain for a solution.

"How about I drag jii-chan to otou-sama's office for discussion?" she finally asked.

"I think that might work. But will the two councillors let him?" Itachi asked back.

"I can take care of the bitch and the bastard" She said as calmly as she could. She still couldn't calm herself well enough. She had subconsciously spat out her nicknames for the two councillors.

"Your head is more precious than that, Karu" Kakashi said in a reprimanding tone. He did not want to nag at her, but he wanted her to know that nothing good will ever came out of rash decisions made when one was angry.

"Better than more people losing their heads right?" she answered coldly. She knew that Kakashi meant well. She knew that he had just wanted her to cool her head to make a good and clear decision. But she just can't. She was still very mad about the three higher-ups. Both Itachi and Kakashi sighed. They knew that she had set her mind. She was going to kill the councillors and Danzo no matter what.

"How about putting them to a little nap instead?" Kakashi suggested. If Hikaru get into trouble, it was his job to at least minimize the consequence she would face.

"Good idea. I'll use the mangekyo" she said, grinning. Both Itachi and Kakashi shuddered. That was the evil grin she always had before she finished the targets she chose. As the captain of ANBU black-ops, she had the privilege to choose a certain mission once in a month. The targets she specifically chose for the missions were usually the criminals who should have been imposed with the heaviest punishment known to mankind. And Danzo and the two councillors had been 'fortunate' to be added into Hikaru's top hit list. After coming down from their initial fright, they sighed again. She was going to use the tsukuyomi. It was considered worse than death. She would get an even heavier penalty.

* * *

><p>The three of them continued talking as they walked down the Uchiha's residential area. Hikaru quickly changed the subject of their conversation when she noticed her father approaching them. "Good afternoon, otou-sama", she greeted him politely.<p>

"Ah. Hikaru-chan. How have you been, dear?" he asked her lovingly. Among all his children, Hikaru is the one he adored the most despite of her being legally adopted by Minato, which caused her to live outside the clan. It was not his call to get her up for adoption. It was one of the Uchiha's stupid rules*. It stated that the first child of the clan's head would be the successor. This is to avoid conflict between siblings as seen with Rikudo Sennin's two sons. However, the Uchiha's rule also stated that if the clan's head first child is a female, she would have to marry inside the clan and let her husband be the next clan head. She was to be engaged once she was two years of age. But, there is an alternative. If the clan head had a son before his first daughter turn two, he could make his son the next clan head, but he had to let his daughter out of the Uchiha clan. Which was actually the nice way of saying that the clan head needed to disown his own daughter. The daughter can become a part of the Uchiha clan again if she decided to marry an Uchiha in the future, but the position of the clan head would remain to his brother. This does not apply if the second child of the clan's head is another female. The oldest would have to stay the position of clan head's wife, unless she defects from the clan or was disowned with whatever reasons. Fugaku chose to 'disown' Hikaru by making one of his closest and most trusted comrade, Minato Namikaze adopt Hikaru. Fugaku viewed that none of the Uchiha boys within Hikaru's marrying age range, well, maybe he was bias but he honestly thought that _NONE_ of the Uchiha males were suitable as Hikaru's suitors. And to top it off, some of the boys that were the top in the suitors list had _VERY _ambitious and power-lusty parents. So, if he were to let them be the next clan's head, we all can kiss goodbye to Uchiha's clan continuity as a strong clan. Those power and authority-obsessed people would abuse their authority of being the clan's head to achieve their own personal goals. They wouldn't care about their clansmen at all. This would also gave another strong reason for the Konoha's upper-ranks to further condemn and banish the clan from getting too involved with the village's matters, which is unfair. The Uchiha did help the Senju in building Konoha. So by right, Uchiha and Senju should share the right to lead Konoha. Senju as the leader and Uchiha as the second in command, like how it had been agreed when Konoha was first built. So, Fugaku had decided to make Itachi his successor. He had vowed to nurture Itachi well for the sake of the clan.

"I'm fine, otou-sama" she answered with an easy lie. Fugaku smiled at her, clearly buying her lie. Hikaru was known to be one of the best actresses in ANBU. That was why she was often sent undercover. She could act and lie very well.

"We still have business to attend to" Itachi cut in. They still had some private discussions to do, in his father's absence.

"Well then. See you tonight, Itachi. Care to join us, Hikaru-chan?" Fugaku asked her sweetly. Hikaru had managed to wrap him around her finger since the day he was born. Actually, he was already in love with her as soon as he had found out that Mikoto was pregnant with their child. It broke his heart to a million little pieces when he had to get Minato to adopt Hikaru. He was just thankful that he knew someone as trustworthy as Minato, or else, he would be worried sick about Hikaru every single damned day, more than how he had already been worried about her.

"Certainly, otou-sama" she replied instantly. It was her chance. Should they discuss about the coup, she would do anything in her power to stop them and persuade them to talk to the Hokage instead.

* * *

><p>That night, at the clan meeting, nothing about the coup was said. They had only talked about the clan's problems and discussed ways to solve them. They had also talked about the internal security of the village, as they were in charge of the police force.<p>

'_Itachi had been suspected by the Uchiha, uh?_' she thought silently as she headed home to Minato's or now Naruto's house. '_Otou-sama invited me over to prove that there was no activities endangering the village had been plotted by the clan. Could it be that he overheard the conversation in the afternoon? No. He couldn't have. So why did he suspect Itachi? Or is it part of his plans? To show that nothing suspicious is going on within the clan? Or did he just not want to discuss it today?_' she thought silently. She did not manage to get any sleep that night as she was lost in thoughts. As she was giving up on sleep and just getting up to train on her own, she suddenly heard a soft knock on her window. She removed the curtains that were blocking her view cautiously. As she looked out of her window, she saw a little bird perched on the windowsill. She opened her window and took the message tied to the bird's foot. She let the bird fly in the open as she opened the message and read it. "_S-ranked mission. Urgent. Scout the border between Konoha and the land of sound. Remove threat and retreat after enough information had been gathered. Mission start: 6am. Teammate: Kakashi Hatake_" After she had read it, she used a fire jutsu to destroy the paper. She packed her stuff for the mission. After leaving a note for Naruto to tell him that she had to go for the mission, she went out of her house towards Konoha's gate where Kakashi would be meeting her.

* * *

><p>The mission had been going on for about three weeks. There was no uprising or immediate threat to Konoha. Then, it suddenly occurred to Hikaru. The damned councillors wanted her away from the village so that nothing could obstruct their evil plans. They knew that Itachi is a loyal dog who would follow their orders without questions, unlike Hikaru. After realizing the dirty truth behind the mission, she told Kakashi that she would be rushing back to Konoha alone, since they were still about three days away from Konoha. She knew a little about Minato's hiraishin jutsu and over the years, she had improved her knowledge and skills in time-space jutsu. She could teleport anywhere within one mile radius to the location of a special kunai with hiraishin tags. She could also teleport back to Minato's house anytime she wanted to, from any distance. Kakashi nodded in understanding as she went back to the village, leaving him alone on foot. She, unlike Minato, could not take anyone with her while performing the hiraishin. The jutsu was still incomplete.<p>

* * *

><p>As she reached Minato's house, she changed her ANBU outfit into civillian's clothing. She wore a pink tank-top with purple vest and short crème shorts. She untied her hair and let it fell freely. She casted a light genjutsu to make her hair looked black instead of blue. She looked different from the times she wore her normal ninja outfit. '<em>Perfect disguise'<em>, she thought with a smile. She sneaked out the house, avoiding any shinobi that may be situated near the house to spy on her. She walked towards the Hokage's office once she was sure that no one was following her. She disguised herself as one of the cleaning staff and began to sweep the floor outside of the Hokage's meeting room. She overheard the conversations of the councillors ordering Itachi to carry out the massacre. The Hokage kept on objecting to the idea but as the rules applied, unanimous vote is to be carried out ASAP, 75%: carried out in the time interval of one day, 50%: re-vote is required, 25%: mission aborted, 0%: missions or discussions will be erased from any recorded data. 75% voted for the massacre. She had one day to stop it. She stopped sweeping the floor as Itachi was dismissed. She placed the broom back into the supply closet. Well, not that the cleaning staff will be suspicious of one missing broom. They probably would not even notice that it went missing. She was just being extra cautious like always.

* * *

><p>Hikaru went to her house in the Uchiha's residential area. She needed to talk to Itachi in private. This would be the only place safe enough to do it. ANBU and Roots are not allowed in the compound, unless they are Uchiha. Luckily, she and Itachi were the only current Uchiha ANBUs, since Shisui had been KIA. There is also no Uchiha in Roots. It is a clan's taboo to join the Roots, since Roots were seen as a rebellious fraction in Konoha by the Uchiha. When she entered the house, she found Sasuke staring at the door all alone hoping that his big brother would come home anytime soon. He immediately smiled widely when he saw her. He asked her to train with him. "Nee-chan! Let's go to the training grounds!" Sasuke said enthusiastically.<p>

"Gomen, Sasuke-chan. Next time" she said smiling as she poked him on the forehead in the same manner Itachi always do. Sasuke pouted, looking very adorable. She ruffled his head affectionately. She then heard footsteps coming from the direction of the front door. Itachi was home. "Itachi, I need to talk to you" she said to Itachi as she gave him a stern look. He nodded and followed her out of the house. As much as she wanted to stay and spend some time with Sasuke, she needed to talk to Itachi, or better, beat some sense into his thick skull. She winked at Sasuke before she left her pouting eight year-old baby brother.

"The massacre is tomorrow" Hikaru said calmly, surprising Itachi. His eyes widened sizably.

"How did you.." Itachi murmured, just to be cut off by Hikaru.

"I overheard the conversation" she said and looked at him sternly. "Don't do it, Ita-chan" she added in a small voice. She felt angry as Itachi was able to be coaxed into committing the massacre. Disappointed in herself, as she could not see the real purpose of her mission sooner. Frustrated, as she could probably do nothing to stop both the coup and massacre. Sad, as her younger brother was tasked to do such a dirty job. The job was not easy. It would definitely leave an emotional and psychological scar on Itachi. And the boy is only thirteen. He was too young to carry such a heavy emotional burden. She somehow knew that if Itachi was willing to go this far, there was no way that the coup could be stopped or delayed.

Hikaru's words left Itachi was dumb-founded. He did not know what to say or do. The decision was tough for him. On one hand, he wanted to listen to his sister and not commit the massacre, but on the other hand, he knew that if the massacre was not carried out, someone else would be forced to do it in his place. Or even worse, a civil war would break out in Konoha, leaving the village and the entire fire country vulnerable to attacks from the other shinobi village or military countries.

"Otou-sama refused the talk I suggested" Itachi finally said after he drew out a long and shaky breath. A few weeks after Hikaru had gone for her mission, Itachi was called in again by the councillors. They had told him to prepare himself for the massacre. Since that day, he was feeling extremely tired. The emotional burden he felt caused him to have insomnia, thus leading to physical exhaustion. He was drained, physically and emotionally.

"Can we stop the coup?" she asked softly. She crossed her finger, hoping that the answer is not what she had expected.

"I doubt it. Everyone agreed to the coup" Itachi answered. Sadness and disappointment were reflected his eyes. Hikaru sighed inwardly. So much for hoping.

"Can we just 'throw' the Hokage in during the coup discussion?" she asked Itachi playfully, trying to lighten up the mood. Her tone however, betrayed her façade. It sounded very hopeful.

"They will kill him immediately" Itachi answered with a small and bitter smile. She sighed at this. '_If only the fourth is still alive_', she thought silently. She knew that the fourth would ran up to Fugaku once he found out about the coup and brought him somewhere quiet to talk about it.

"At least get someone else to do it, Itachi" she said, finally breaking the painful silence.

"I believe it would be impossible. I am the only one fit to get the job done" Itachi replied with a sad smile.

"I'll stop you, Itachi" she said calmly and firmly. Itachi knew that his sister was not joking. She was dead set on stopping him. "This is ridiculous" she added with a huff and stormed off. With that, both of them parted ways.

* * *

><p>That night, Hikaru had snuck into the Hokage's house. She had found him pacing around in a circle in his living room. After a while, he finally noticed her. "I heard everything.." she whispered quietly, bowing her head down. She wanted to beg him to order Itachi to not carry out the massacre. But it was not his call alone. Such level of decision required at least two more of the upper-ranks to agree to. The two counsellors, unfortunately, had seemed to set their minds on carrying out the massacre. Maybe it was to save themselves troubles from making any future decisions about the Uchiha clan. Or maybe, well, a more likely scenario is that Danzo had blackmailed them.<p>

"Gomenasai, Hikaru-chan. I couldn't do anything" he said, sorrow was evident in his voice. He walked over to her and enveloped her in a hug.

"I know you did what you could, jiji. But, can you perhaps send another ANBU? Instead of Itachi?" she asked hopefully. She sounded like she was begging and pleading instead of asking. She felt a little guilty of doing so. She knew that the Hokage had a soft spot for her. It was not fair to put him in such a dilemma. But she had to somehow try to save Itachi from the psychological and emotional damage he would be suffering.

"Gomen, Hikaru. It had been agreed by the councillors and Danzo." the third replied, feeling guiltier. He could not do anything for her, the kid he always loved as his own granddaughter.

"Should I kill them?" she asked easily, just like how she would have asked about the weather. The Hokage snorted at her question and shook his head lightly. He smiled lightly at the girl. She really knows how to lighten up the mood.

"No. Minato will come back here from his grave and kill me personally if I let you" the Hokage said as his smile broadens. It would be a sight to see Minato coming back from the afterlife, maybe it would do good to the village.. He also secretly liked the idea of disposing of his two old teammates. Sure, they had gone through a lot together. But they had also caused him enough troubles to last him for seven lives. Okay, that's a lie. More than seven years, definitely. However, it was too dangerous for Hikaru to do it. Maybe he should get someone else to do it.. Or maybe send a team.. "Its too dangerous and you knew the consequences" he said instead, still smiling lightly. She need not know about his thoughts. If she knew, she would do him a favour by getting rid of the two, without him having to ask her to. Oh, and the sly old dog Danzo too as a bonus.

"Am I allowed to stop Itachi?" she asked as her eyes lit up mischievously. She knew that if she could stop Itachi, she could stall some time. Maybe she could use the time she stalled to arrange a private discussion between her father and the third..

"Hikaru, this conversation never happened and you were still on your mission" the Hokage said firmly. There was however, a small twitch on the corner of his lips.

"Arigatou Hokage-sama" she bowed and left. She grinned. The Hokage had allowed her to stop Itachi. She went back to Minato's house to sleep, gathering her strength to stop Itachi tomorrow.

* * *

><p>-2 hours before the massacre-<p>

Hikaru had changed into her war outfit. She wore a tight fishnet tube-top and a flak jacket on top of it. A pair of black combat shorts hung loosely on her hips. Metal forearm and leg protectors plus a pair of standard metal-covered gloves completed her armour. She also wore the standard ninja boots. She placed her katana inside a scabbard with a strap on, so that she could slung her katana behind her back. The strap is held in place through a hole in the inner side of the flak jacket. She had two kunai holders on each thigh. A scroll and a medical equipment pouches hung on her shorts on her lower back, just above her butt. She also slipped two sheathed kodachi between her waist-band. She was ready for battle. She knew that the root personals and some ANBUs will be situated around the outer perimeter of the Uchiha's residential area to set up a barrier to prevent people outside the compound to know what was happening. After a final check, she left her house, ready to kill whoever stood in her way.

* * *

><p>As she was nearing the main entrance of the clan compound, five Root members ambushed her. She took a kodachi in each hand and cut off all of the shinobi's head, separating them from their bodies in a clean, neat cut. Before she could step into the compound, another masked figure approached her. She used her kodachi to stab him in the heart, but she only stabbed the air. '<em>It's the same freaking masked man from eight years back<em>', she thought.

"We meet again. I believe that you are now the famous Konoha no Aoi Bara**" the masked man said in a cheerful yet sadistic tone.

"Yes I am. Now that we meet for the second time, I'm going to kill you to avenge the Yondaime's death." she said and she charged on him. She swung both kodachi, only to slash the air, just like she had predicted. The masked man suddenly reappeared behind her. He pointed a kunai at her back. *Poof* he fell into her trap. He had stabbed her kage bunshin. "Rasengan!" she said as she struck him on his back with her jutsu. It hit the man. He vomited blood. He jumped away from Hikaru immediately.

"I've underestimated you" the man said coldly as he wiped his bloodied mouth. He used his mangekyo sharingan to stare into the half kyuubi that was sealed within her. He tried to release the sealed kyuubi.

"Amaterasu!" Hikaru screamed as she activated her own mangekyo. In an instant, the man was covered by black flame. She quickly formed a series of hand-signs and pressed her palm flat into her stomach, repairing the seal. The kyuubi will be sealed completely for the next 24 hours. She would not be able to use any of its chakra. It was bad for her, but she had to do it if she doesn't want the masked man to gain control over the kyuubi. This situation placed her at a disadvantage. She did not have a large chakra reserve. In fact, without the kyuubi's chakra, her chakra reserve was about equal to those of freshly-graduated genins. She sensed that the masked man was still alive. He impressed her. He was the first person to ever survive her amaterasu. She had to end the fight quickly or she will lose. She could only last for about fifteen more minutes.

As Hikaru was formulating her battle plan, she suddenly felt someone grabbing her hand. "Let's continue this somewhere else, my dearest blue rose" The masked man whispered in her ears. With that, the masked man teleported them somewhere else.

* * *

><p>She looked around her. It was an empty clearing. The ground was plain. Only grass carpeted it. No flower or tree, or any other signs of living beings. Hikaru drew her katana and slashed the air behind her, sensing a presence. She then quickly jumped away, avoiding the explosive tags that had been placed beneath her feet. She threw kunai in mid-air, in the direction of where she had sensed the masked man's chakra, but her kunai only managed to hit the air. "Kuchiyose no jutsu!" she used the summoning jutsu to summon Ami. "Ami, transform" Ami then turned from the small wolf who were just big enough for her to ride on into a giant wolf half the size of the kyuubi. "Earth-shattering jutsu" Hikaru said as she completed the hand-seals. Ami used the same jutsu, amplifying the effect. The ground around them began to crack, and pieces of dust, dirt and rubbles flew in the air. She activated her byakugan to detect the location of the masked man. He was not in the clearing anymore. He had retreated. "Ami, you can go back" Hikaru said. Ami then disappeared with a 'woof!'. Hikaru used the hiraishin to find her way back from the clearing. She landed on the middle of Minato's living room. She used the jutsu again, and reappeared in the front gate of the Uchiha residential compound, where she had kept a hiraishin tag hidden in a crack on the concrete wall surrounding the compound. A sharp pain suddenly pierced her back as she arrived at the Uchiha compound. Before she fell, she saw that one of the root members had used a forbidden jutsu on her. Said jutsu drew the chakra of the first person the user touched. In return of using the jutsu, the user would die, as his chakra was drawn out as well.<p>

She didn't die from the jutsu as the kyuubi chakra inside of her kept her alive. However, she was paralized. Only her vision and hearing were not affected. She lied motionlessly on the ground as she watched what happened. She cried as she watched her little brother, Itachi killing the entire clan members. He finally head home, ready to kill their parents. Before he went in, he sent her a sad, apologetic smile. She wanted to scream, but her voice would not come out. More tears flew down her cheeks. "Hikaru-chan, let's watch your brother killing your parents.. 3" a person suddenly said in a sickening-sweet tone as she was grabbed by the waist. It was the damned masked man. He carried her to her house and dropped her on the wooden-tiled living room. The masked man crouched beside her as he pulled on her hair, angling her face such that she was able to see the centre of the room, where Itachi was killing their mother and father. As her head was suddenly dropped to the ground, she heard a loud scream. It was Sasuke's voice. She struggled to break the jutsu to no avail. She still could not move any of her muscles. Only her eyelids were cooperating with her. She wanted to turn around to grab him and hug him tightly. She wanted to console him, comforting him, telling him a white lie that '_everything's gonna be ok'._ But she couldn't. She watched helplessly as Itachi dragged Sasuke into the middle of the room, to where their parents' bodies were. He slammed Sasuke to the wall as he used tsukuyomi on Sasuke to show him the scene of him killing their parents. Sasuke broke down and dropped his head slightly. He then gathered all his strength to push Itachi away. He threw a kunai at Itachi, scratching his forehead protector. Itachi then grabbed Sasuke again as they had a short conversation. Hikaru did not know what they were talking about. Her eyelids were growing heavier by the second and her vision began to blur, from both tears and exhaustion. Her hearing had also deteriorated. She closed her eyes to try to strain her ears, but she failed to do so. Her chakra level was too low. She slowly fall into darkness as she went unconscious.

* * *

><p>Hikaru woke up the next morning. She got up and ran out of the house, hoping against hope that all that had happened last night was just a nightmare. She had refused to look around her living room. As much as she wanted to convince herself that there were no corpses in the living room, she just could not bring herself to look around the room. She did not think that she could stand looking at her parents' corpses again. As she walked out of the house, corpses littered the ground. All of them were dirty and stained with blood. The street was painted red with the blood of the Uchiha. The scene before her is extremely bloody. Blood was everywhere. The walls had been sprayed by blood splatters. It was worse than war, aside the fact that none of the buildings in the compound was destroyed, or even nicked for that matter. She then remembered that Sasuke was still inside the house. She refused to look around the living room ass he re-entered the house. She had her eyes focused only on Sasuke, so that she would not see the gory corpses of her parents'. She ran towards him and picked him up from the ground, carrying him to the hospital. She was ushered to a hospital room once she had arrived. She did a quick check on Sasuke before the medics arrived. Thank Kami-sama that Sasuke was alright. In an act of rash decision, she decided to leave Konoha. There were just too many bitter memories in the village. After a medic took care of Sasuke, Hikaru headed home. She proceeded to pack all her things. She did not want to stay in the village anymore. She felt that she is nothing but a failure, that she is worthless to the village and even worse, she had failed the people whom she cared for the most. She had failed to save her brothers. She had failed to save Itachi. She had failed to save her clan. She had failed to prevent Sasuke from having a miserable and bitter life. As she stood before Konoha's gate, she took the last glance on the streets of Konoha and then took off without saying a word to anyone. She felt like she was useless, a failure. She felt extremely helpless. She felt worse than a scum. A single drop of tear rolled down her cheek as she took off running. Little did she know that an onyx eye was staring at her as she left the village. Kakashi watched her as she left. He knew that the Uchiha clan had been massacred. He knew that she was too late to stop it.<p>

* * *

><p>AN: *About the Uchiha's children rule.. It's obviously made up! :P hey, this is a fanfiction, you know! Hehe. A lot of the plots and some details are altered in this story. I don't want it to sound similar to most fanfiction out there that followed too closely with the canon. I mean, I couldn't make my readers get bored of my story, can't I? :D

**And another thing, Konoha no Aoi Bara means 'Konoha's Blue Rose'. It is Hikaru's nickname. Mwehehe.

R&R peeps! :D


	7. 7 Meeting Sasuke

Without Hikaru realizing, Kakashi had slowly maneuvered her from the Uchiha clan's entrance gate to her former house, the house where her little brother had killed her parents. She snapped out of her flashback as she realized that she was standing on the front door of her old house. She would never call that place home ever again after the incident that had happened five years ago. She looked up at Kakashi, meeting his gaze. She had a terrified look in her eyes. She was not sure if she could face Sasuke ever again. She left him. She let his older brother kill his parents and took away all the joy and happiness that he could have had. His life is a living hell because of her. His emotional and psychological scar was caused by her. It was her fault that he could not enjoy his childhood like any other normal children. Kakashi looked at her with a 'go-for-it', 'you-can-do-it' look. She sighed in fear and anxiety. She lifted her shaking arm, balling her hand into a tight fist as knocked the door softly. The knock was almost inaudible. She then heard some shuffling as someone from the other side of the door turning the doorknob. She wanted to run away but Kakashi held her in place. When the door had finally opened, Kakashi jumped to the rooftop to watch her.

She froze in her place and looked down on the ground. She dared not look at her baby brother. '_He must have hated me, more than he hates Ita-chan_', she thought sadly. She thought that Sasuke would slam the door shut knowing who were standing in front of him. However, her prediction was wrong. She felt a pair of arms wrapping around her waist and a head resting on her shoulder. Sasuke hugged her. Her baby brother hugged her, in an affectionate gesture. She thought that if he did not slam the door shut on her face, he would take a kunai and stab her with it to take her life. She was relieved. She also felt happy that Sasuke did not hate her. She patted his head hair and stroked his duck-butt styled hair gently, just like what she used to do when he was a newborn baby.

After a few moments, Sasuke pulled away from her. A warm smile was painted on his face. "I'm glad that you are still alive, Hikaru nee-san" his face beamed with joy as he said it. She smiled back at him and apologized.

"I'm sorry Sasuke. I left you. I shouldn't have.." her apology was cut off by him.

"Yeah. Why did you leave? I thought Itachi killed you as well. You don't know how much I grieved over your 'death'. I've missed you" he said quietly.

"Sorry Sasuke.." she said with guilt clear in her voice. She really felt guilty for leaving him.

"It's ok. I will forgive you, but only if you promise me that you will never leave ever again" Sasuke said with a smile on his face.

"Ok. I promise" she replied with a cheery voice. She was happy that Sasuke was not as mad as she thought he would be. Once again, she felt someone hugging her. Sasuke hugged her again. After a few moments, he looked up, still hugging her.

"I'm really glad that you are still alive, Hikaru nee-san" he said with a small smile on his face.

"Yeah. I'm glad too" she said as she kissed his forehead gently.

Sasuke then pulled away and held the door open for her to step in. She shook her head gently. He raised an eyebrow questioning her decision against entering the house. "I can't step inside. This place had too many painful memories for me. I will be having nightmares if I stay.." she said apologetically.

"I understand" Sasuke said. "But where will you live?" he asked.

"The third had given me an apartment to stay at. I really wish that you would come and live with me.." she said softly.

"Ok" Sasuke shrugged. She guessed that he was constantly terrorized by nightmares about the Uchiha massacre, just like her. The place really brought terrifying and painful memory. Hikaru looked at him cheerfully as he had agreed to move out with her. "Give me some time to pack" Sasuke said.

"Sure. I'll wait in front of the residential entrance" she said. Sasuke ran inside the house to pack. She strolled out of the streets of the Uchiha compound to the entrance gate.

Hikaru felt someone walking beside her. He placed his hand on her shoulder as she closed her eyes. She felt better when she did not have to see the sight of the Uchiha compound. Kakashi placed both hands on her shoulder as he guided her out of the residential area. There was a park bench located near to the entrance gate. Kakashi sat Hikaru on the bench and then sat himself down beside her. She placed her head on his shoulder, as she opened her eyes slowly, afraid that she would still be able to see the sight of the compound, or rather the terrorizing condition she had found the compound to be in after that fateful night. Kakashi seemed to be able to read her mind as he stroked her hair gently, trying to ease her worries. After about half an hour waiting for Sasuke, a raven haired boy appeared from the Uchiha compound carrying a back pack. Kakashi saw this as a cue to take his leave. He should give her some private time with her brother. Hikaru stood up as Sasuke neared her and fell into a step beside the boy.

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><p>"There will be someone else living with us.." she told Sasuke as they walked towards their new home.<p>

"You're married?" he asked her, shocked. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped.

"No.. It's an adoptive brother of mine. It's the boy that the fourth Hokage had asked me to take care of" she said. Sasuke seemed relieved. "You don't want me to get married?" she asked Sasuke as she raised her eyebrow playfully.

"No. It's not that I don't want you to get married. But you are too young to get married" Sasuke replied. He sounded like an old man.

"You know Sasuke, you sounded like an old man" she said to him half-jokingly.

"Hn!" Sasuke growled. She laughed at his reaction.

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><p>They finally arrived at the new house. She took out her apartment key from her pocket and unlocked the door. Sasuke walk in after she did. The apartment was quite big. It has two storeys. The first storey was where the kitchen, living room and laundry room were. There was also a bedroom located just below the staircase that led to the second storey. The second storey was where the master bedroom and another bedroom were located at. Sasuke took the room on the second floor. After Hikaru had settled in, well, it was not like she had a lot of stuff with her, she only had her combat outfit, weapon and money, Hikaru told Sasuke that she was going to fetch their other house-mate. She then took off to Naruto's house while Sasuke was still unpacking his stuff.<p>

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><p>AN: R&R? :D


	8. 8 Getting To Know Each Other

8. Getting To Know Each Other - Friendship and Rivalry Arises!

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><p>AN: Chapter title is apparently too long. (Again).

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><p>Once again, Hikaru was standing outside of Naruto's house. She had arrived an hour before the timing they had agreed upon. Hikaru knocked on the door, this time without any hesitation. She was actually feeling rather ecstatic. She couldn't wait to re-introduce her two brothers. Sure, they had met before, a lot of times actually, up to when they were toddlers. But she doubted that they would remember one another. They were too young. Almost immediately, the door opened and Naruto jumped on her, engulfing her in a bear hug. "I'm ready to move!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly. A cheerful grin was plastered on his face. Hikaru couldn't help but smile. He reminded her of her younger self, before all those heartbreaking incidents occurred. She was as jumpy and cheerful as him whenever Minato or Kakashi was around. She patted his blonde crown and started to walk to her apartment's direction, only to be stopped by Naruto. "Nee-chan, a little help here.." Naruto said with a smile and faint blush on his cheeks. She turned around and cocked her eyebrow at Naruto. Her gaze then fell on Naruto's belongings, causing her eyes to widen as she looked at Naruto with a stunned expression. Hikaru closed her eyes briefly and opened it again while shaking her head, trying to make sure that she was not seeing things. And she was not. A faint amused smile that was directed at Naruto painted her lips. Naruto had packed all his belongings in an enormous piece of cloth. She suspected that he just threw whatever he owned into the cloth, without even trying to arrange his stuff. Now, the cloth was stuck on his doorway since it was too gigantic. She pushed the cloth inside the house and walked in. She undid the knot on the cloth and took out all the content to re-pack everything. The size of the luggage decreased by three-quarter after she was done.<p>

'_Naruto sure have no idea on how to pack -_-_', Hikaru thought with wry amusement as they started walking to the direction of their new apartment.

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><p>"Naruto, there will be someone else living with us" Hikaru said as they were nearing the new apartment.<p>

"WHAT? You're married?" Naruto screamed, his mouth hung open as he stared at her in shock.

"No. I'm not!" she replied. '_Why do kids these days think too far ahead in the wrong track? I guess kids matured too fast nowadays. Anyway, why do they always assume that living with someone means marrying? You can be house-mates with your friends, can't you?_' she thought silently as she stared at Naruto. "Why do you think that I'm married?" she asked curiously.

"Because you have been away for five years. I thought that you have met someone and decided to come back to Konoha to settle down" Naruto said.

"Oh" she replied. That was a legit logical explanation. "Well, anyway, we are going to live with my brother" she said. Naruto then looked at her, confused.

"But.. I'm your brother.. Right..?" Naruto said, looking down. His lower lip jutted out slightly in a cute pout.

"It's my biological brother. You are my brother as well. My adoptive brother" Hikaru said, smiling at Naruto as she ruffled his blonde hair.

"Oh. I wonder how your brother looks like. He must be very handsome, because you are very pretty!" Naruto chirped happily. She blushed at what Naruto had said. Sure, a lot of people had said that she was pretty, but she always thought that they only said it to flatter her, as she was known as the fourth Hokage's daughter.

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><p>"OK. Here we are" Hikaru said to Naruto as they stood in front of the new apartment. Hikaru heard the door being unlocked and opened by Sasuke.<p>

"YOU!" she heard Naruto and Sasuke both screamed at the same time as they pointed at each other. "NEE-CHAN! ARE YOU SERIOUS THAT WE ARE GOING TO LIVE WITH HIM?!" both Naruto and Sasuke yelled in unison, still pointing. She gave them the '-_-' look.

"Yes. Now you two better start getting along". Both Naruto and Sasuke protested, complained and whined, giving her a pounding head ache. She was still a little groggy from the insomnia she had suffered for the past five years. She finally had had enough and decided to stop their bickering by grabbing both their hands and dragged into the apartment and threw them onto the sofa. "Mokuton: restrain", she used her wood release. Tree branches appeared out of nowhere, tying Naruto and Sasuke's hands and legs. The woods also pushed them back further onto the sofa, rendering them immobile.

"Now the two of you will learn on how to get along" she said with an evil grin on her face. Both Naruto and Sasuke shuddered, their faces blanched. '_I didn't know she could be this scary!' _Both Naruto and Sasuke thought at the same time.

"I'll start with Sasuke. Sasuke, why don't you like Naruto?" Hikaru asked.

"Because he is very loud and he doesn't know how to shut up" Sasuke said.

"WHAT? YOU EMO BOY! YOU ARE THE ONE WHO IS TOO QUIET!" Naruto yelled, retaliating from Sasuke's comments.

"Naruto. Keep quiet. Listen to what he has to say. Don't interrupt until I said that you can talk" she glared at Naruto. Naruto shrunk on the sofa, terrified. Sasuke smirked at Naruto, only to gain the same evil glare from Hikaru. Sasuke kept quiet and looked down. "Ok. Now, Naruto. Why do you hate Sasuke?" she asked nicely.

"Because he is sooo emo" Naruto said, his face twisting into funny expressions, causing him to earn a death glare from Sasuke. The death glare did not affect Naruto at all. "He always acted as if he was sooo cool, when he's not! AT ALL! And it's so weird that the emo boy is sooo popular with girls!" Naruto continued as he spat out the last four words. She chuckled at Naruto's comment. She knew that most Uchiha are good looking, but she had never thought that someone Sasuke's age would have been able to attract the opposite sex to such extent. Looks like she has to keep an eye on his '_good looking' _little brother.

"Ok. I know your problems" she said, undoing her Mokuton and set them free. The two of them scurried to sit at the opposite ends of the sofa.

"Sasuke, I know that Naruto is loud. Plus, he is also an attention seeker" she said calmly. Naruto looked like he was about to cry and Sasuke smirked. "But you have to know that it is because Naruto does not have any parents. His parents died the day he was born, sacrificing their lives for the village" she said. Sasuke's smirk disappeared and he looked at Naruto with concern. Naruto looked away. He hated whenever anyone mention about his parents' deaths. But he was happy that his parents were heroes. There was a small tug on the corners of Naruto's lips. He was proud of his parents who sacrificed their lives to protect the village that he loved very dearly. "Naruto, Sasuke is emo because of a similar reason. His parents were killed by his older brother when he was only eight" Hikaru said. Now it was Naruto's turn to look at Sasuke with concern. Sasuke glared at Hikaru angrily. He also hated the deaths of his parents to be brought up. He hated the loneliness he felt without them. And it also caused him to be furious. The incident always made his blood boil, each time he was reminded of it, he became more resolved in killing Itachi in the most painful and brutal manner possible. "Now I hope that the two of you can understand each others' conditions" Hikaru said.

"I understand.." the two of them said at the same time. They looked at one another in surprise.

"Ok. Good" she said cheerfully.

"Hn!" both of them snorted and looked away from one another. Hikaru grinned.

"Now, I'm sure that both of you are hungry. Let's go and buy some ingredients so that I can make you dinner" Hikaru said. Naruto and Sasuke nodded and followed after her to the market place to buy food supply.

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><p>AN: hello! thank you for all the favorites and follows. And I appreciate your reviews as well. So guys, more R&R, ok? :P


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